Remember this Face, Baby.

LUNCH TIME

Despite the cool temperate and chilly wisps of wind, the day looked compromising enough. Not a single cloud floated across the blue sky and the sun was shining high above the town. Once the bell for lunch rang, I walked to my locker and slipped into my sweater, grabbing my bag. I walked outside and sat on one of the benches near the parking lot, soaking in as much sun as I could.

Hearing a quiet vibration, I reached into my bag lying on the bench beside me and pulled out my cell phone. I read Kayla’s message, quickly and returned a reply, sticking my cell phone back inside my bag. I leaned back on my arms behind me and sighed, hoping Kayla would hurry up to head out for lunch.

The parking lot was half-empty and only a few cars were scattered across the student lot, including Kayla’s. Some students, though, were outside sitting in their cars or standing around a vehicle enjoying the time with their friends. There were students smoking at the pit, sitting along the logs placed around the large whole they called the smoking pit.

Turning my attention over my shoulder, I spotted Kayla walking alongside Caleb. I wasn’t going to lie, Kayla and Caleb seemed like a good match and I could definitely see them lasting a long time. It wasn’t just by the way they looked together; it was the way they acted. Kayla’s face glowed with happiness, and every time Caleb stared at Kayla, it was evident he didn’t want to be anywhere else besides walking with Kayla at that moment.

I watched Kayla turn to face Caleb, smiling up at him and instantly, her cheeks flushed when his hand ran down her arm. With his other hand on her cheek, Caleb bent down and pressed his lips on hers. Quickly, I averted my gaze from the scene unfolding before me and turned to stare at the parking lot, blushing from embarrassment.

A hand grabbed my forearm and snapping my head in their direction, I saw it was Kayla. She still had a dark flush over her cheeks and she seemed giddy. I didn’t think she could barely speak, because every time she tried saying something, she’d stutter and then, start giggling.

Instead of speaking, she waved her hand and pointed her finger at the car. I nodded and followed Kayla, watching her closely. We climbed into her car and without any warning, she screamed. I jumped and shrieked, loudly, glancing around the car, wildly. Kayla hit the steering wheel several times and once I realized she was screaming from happiness, my shriek came to halt and I dropped my hand from my chest.

“Did you see it? Caleb kissed me, Karissa!” Kayla screamed, reaching across her seat to pull me into a tight hug. I patted her back, and tried pushing her off, hoping she’d understand I was losing oxygen from my lungs.

“I can’t breathe, Kayla!” I gasped, loudly and she quickly let go, running her hands over my face for reassurance that I was alright.

“I’m sorry, but I’m so happy, Karissa! We need to go, right now!” Kayla exclaimed. She inserted the key into the engine and started up the car, pulling out of the parking spot and driving out of the parking lot.

I glanced at my best friend for a moment and wished I wouldn’t feel a twinge of envy. I looked away from Kayla and stared, sadly out the window, wondering when my day would come.

By the time we returned to school, it was ten to one. Kayla parked her car and we climbed out, heading to the locker. The hallways were packed with students heading to their lockers from lunch and as quickly as we could, we maneuvered in and out of the crowd, trying to get to our locker.

Kayla had been in front of me, and I had hold of her hand, when someone pushed me. My grip loosened on Kayla’s hand and I fell to the floor, hitting a few teenagers. Kayla had slammed against a locker and when she glanced up, searching for me, I could see the side of her head was bleeding from a small cut she must have received from hitting her head on the lockers.

I started getting up, when I heard a familiar voice. My entire body froze and I glanced to my right, seeing the girl Kayla had slapped earlier in the office with a girl who looked almost identical to her, but instead of brown eyes, this girl’s was a baby blue and she looked to be about eighteen. I only knew who she was because she was one of the cheerleaders who seemed to throw themselves at David, every time he came near them.

“So, you thought you could mess with my sister, did you?” Whitney Carol hissed, stepping inside the circle that had already formed around me. She watched me with daggers, watching me, intently.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I stammered. My throat had become instantly dry and my heart was pounding quickly against my rib cage.

“You don’t, do you? Tell her what you told me, Dani,” Whitney demanded, turning to look at her sister, Danielle. She smiled, darkly and stepped beside Whitney’s side, nodding.

“I looked over at her,” she paused, watching me with hatred, “and it wasn’t a glare or anything. I just glanced over and then, she pushed me against the lockers and threatened me. She told me if I ever looked at her like that again, she was going to kill me. I couldn’t even believe she had threatened my life! And then, as if that wasn’t enough, she slapped me!” Danielle exclaimed, placing her head on her sister’s shoulder.

“Does that refresh your memory, whore?” Whitney asked, darkly. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I was dumbfounded that her sister would lie about what truly happened and even if I tried to explain what actually happened, I knew no one would believe me.

I looked frantically around the group surrounding me, hoping to find Kayla’s familiar eyes, but Kayla wasn’t present. I could feel the tears circling the rims of my eyes and absent-mindedly, I got up from the floor and ran forward, hoping that the crowd would move.

Just as I crashed into the students, I felt hands push me back with full force and shrieking, I fell onto my back, gasping desperately for air. Snickers ran around the thick crowd and suddenly, I heard Kayla’s voice. I searched again and saw her jumping, and trying to push threw. Unbelievably, I watched the crowd push her back and some girls scream at her.

I discovered with a dark realization: these people were going to stand there and watch Whitney do her deed on me. They weren’t going to move until they saw how badly hurt I was and then, they’d go on their day as if nothing happened.

“Kayla, please help me!” I shrieked, running towards the crowd. Arms pushed my body back, but I fought back, trying to grab arms or anything that could pull me to my best friend. I didn’t care who I hurt at that moment, as I dug my nails into fresh skin and drew blood.

“You fucking bitch! Get off of me!” a deep voice screamed, and threw his fist at my face. Quickly, I let go and let my body fall, holding my nose. My entire body was shaking from the pain and fear, and I didn’t need to glance at my hand to see the blood covering my skin.

I could hear the cruel snickers and the loud laughs running throughout the mouths of the crowd, as they watched my blood soak the front of my shirt. Then, it finally began and Whitney walked towards me. She grabbed a handful of hair and smashed my face against her knee, and continued to repeat the motion until she pushed my head back. I fell on my back, staring at the ceiling, shocked.

The searing pain blinded me momentarily and for an instant, I couldn’t hear anything. I could only hear my heart beating rapidly in my ears and feel my blood pounding through my veins. I could feel their eyes though, watching me and laughing.

The noise hit me full volume and my heart skipped a beat. I had thought seeing the people around me, standing there watching was horrible enough; hearing their laughs and voices was much worst. I could hear Kayla’s shrieks for help and her angry shouts at the people surrounding me. People seemed to shrug her off, though, like she was no one important.

I lifted myself from the blood-covered floor, breathing heavily. I could hear Whitney laughing behind me, as I got onto my hands and knees, shakily, closing my eyes for a moment as my vision blurred. I could hear shouts from all around me, screaming to keep going. I tried ignoring them, as I focused on the pain searing throughout my face.

“Come on, slut. Get up!” Whitney screamed. I could feel blood leaking out of my mouth and slowly, I opened my eyes, staring down at the pool of blood lying underneath me. I didn’t want to move because my head pounded, but I knew if I didn’t, I wouldn’t get out of this.

As I started pushing myself up, I turned just in time to see Whitney’s leg colliding with the side of my chest. Screeching loudly in pain, I fell onto my side and cried. Tears spilled down my warm, bloody cheeks and onto the floor. The pain seared like a hot wire throughout my body, white and burning.

I wanted to die, I really did.

Two hands grabbed my shoulders, roughly pulling me to a stand. I wanted to fall back and lay on the floor; the pain on my side burned as I stood there, being held by someone. Another arm wrapped itself around my neck and then, a fist collided with my spine, sending several blows repeatedly. I cried into the air and tried to squirm from their grasp, but they gripped my shoulder and punched my back, until I felt my knees go weak. They pushed me from them and watched me fall onto my face, snickering, darkly.

The world was spinning and I was falling in and out of consciousness. If I moved my body just an inch, it burned with agony and I wondered if they were going to leave me here or keep destroying me. Blood was pouring down my nose and out my mouth, making it harder for me to receive oxygen. Coughing and heaving more blood, I pushed myself onto my back and stared at the ceiling again.

“Get up, you worthless whore! I’m not even through with you, yet! You think you can threaten my little sister and walk around this school like nothing happened? That’s not how it works, you ugly bitch! No one’s going to help you, now, not even your baby’s daddy! Now get up and fight me! Let me finish you off, like you were planning to finish Dani off!” Whitney snarled, blocking my view from the ceiling as she stared down at me.

Making a disturbing noise with the back of her throat, I watched her open her mouth and spit down on my face. I whimpered, wiping my face, quickly. I turned onto my side and starting pushing myself up, when she kicked my back and then, stomped on my leg. She moved around to my front and smashed her foot against my face, making me fall back onto my back. Her foot collided with the unwounded side of my body, repeating this motion until I coughed up blood. Whitney straddled my waist and with one hand, she grabbed a handful of my bloody shirt, pulling me up slightly. With her other one, she fisted her hand and hit me across the face.

Dear God, just take me with you, please, I thought, miserably, as she continued to punch my face. I tried keeping my eyes open, but it was difficult because of how swollen they felt. I imagined they must have looked like blood marshmallows plastered on my face. I wanted to imagine the rest of my body, but I knew how it looked. The agonizing, red hot pain told me.

“Get the fuck off her!” It was a deep voice booming with such a rage and hatred, it scared me. But the blows continued to fall across my face, as though Whitney hadn’t heard a single thing and I wondered if I imagined the angry voice.

“Didn’t you hear him?” This time the voice was female and I knew it was Kayla’s. I heard a shriek and Whitney’s body struggle on top of mine, pressing her knees into my wounded sides. I shrieked, painfully and let my sobs run down my body.

The extra’s body’s weight lifted from mine and hands pulled me off the floor. They wrapped their arms around my body, protectively, letting me lean against their hard body. They held me as my knees weakened and threatened to drop me, but they kept me against their solid body, whispering reassurances.

I could hear shrieks and shouts to my left. Peeling my eyes opened, I saw Kayla straddled on Whitney’s body, throwing blows at her face like there was no tomorrow. Girls were trying to pull Kayla off, but every time they tried, Kayla would throw her arms around, hitting many across their faces, and then she’d continue to punch Whitney.

“How dare you do this to her?” the booming voice came from above me, and I could feel it vibrate on my cheek lying on their chest. Their hands were gentle against my body, pushing my body closer to theirs. I wanted to lean my head back and see who my savior was, but I felt so incredibly weak. I felt like I was dying, standing in this person’s strong arms.

“Karissa, sweetheart, you’ll be okay. Please, don’t leave me. You need to stay strong, babe,” Kayla’s voice was beside my ear, whispering so softly I barely heard her. Her hands ran over my face, carefully and she kissed my forehead.

“You fucking ugly bitch! How dare you touch her after everything she’s been through?” Kayla screamed, and I watched her stand in the middle of the circle, staring dangerously at Whitney. “And then there’s everyone standing around this circle! Karissa isn’t a slut and she doesn’t deserve this! Yes, she has a baby at the age of eighteen and so fucking what? There are millions of fucking people who have kids at this age! Any of you fucking sluts standing in this circle watching, can get pregnant! Just because one guy named David Johnson says she’s a whore, you automatically make her an outcast and want to hurt her so badly she looks like this?” Kayla’s voice was the only one I heard roaring across the entire school. Everything else was silent, listening to Kayla.

I couldn’t hold onto consciousness anymore and I didn’t hesitate to fall into the darkness. I invited it with open arms, because I wanted to be out of this world. I let it take me far, deep into the darkness until I saw a glowing light. Darkness’ hands handed me over to the light, glowing just above me my mangled body. I opened my arms wide and like a flash of lightning, it wrapped its arms around me and pulled me in.

THIRD POINT OF VIEW

Kayla looked around the circle, wildly and finally, her eyes fell upon one she hated with such a burning passion. She narrowed her eyes at him and stepped closer to him, and two of his friends instantly stood in front of him, watching her, closely. Kayla smirked, darkly and shook her head, chuckling, loudly.

“You know, David? Since the fucking first day I laid my eyes on you, I knew there was something wrong with you. I couldn’t figure it out why I felt such a hate towards you, but it was until you abandoned Karissa with a baby that I figured it out. You’re a heartless piece of shit, David. I want to know how you feel knowing you have a two year old daughter you refuse to see. You know she’s yours because Karissa only fucked your ass. You were the unfaithful one, fucking every single thing that walked, behind her back, including that fucking piece of shit over!” Kayla barked, pointing at Whitney. She tried hiding her face from the people gasping at her and Kayla laughed, walking towards her and grabbing her hair, pulling towards David. She ignored her loud shrieks and pushed her into the guys blocking David. They grimaced from the bloody mess falling on them and pushed her aside.

David’s jaw clenched and he glanced over at Deryk holding Karissa’s bloodied body. He couldn’t deny how much it affected seeing Karissa laying in the new kid’s arms, but it wasn’t his fault. She had gotten into trouble on her own and like if he was going to do anything about it.

“She was a whore from the beginning and she’ll never stop being one. Sure, I fucked her, but once she started getting her cravings, she couldn’t keep her legs closed,” David commented and smirked.

Kayla looked dumbfounded and fisting her hands, tightly, she marched towards him and pushed her body against the two teenagers blocking her way. She wiped the angry tears running down her cheeks and spat at him. David’s lip twitched, as he tried to keep his cool demeanor and he wiped the spit off his cheek.

“I’m going to tell you this once, David and you better listen. Karissa has your baby, if you want to realize it or not, but if you come five feet of her and Alexis, I will kill you and I promise you I’ll be happy standing behind bars after I’m through with you. And since you have control over all these idiots, you can tell them the truth. You can tell them what really happened. You can tell them you got a girl pregnant at the age of sixteen and were too much of a pussy to admit it,” Kayla hissed, glaring at him and hoping he knew how much she hated him.

“I’m not saying a single thing,” he whispered. Kayla nodded and clenched her jaw, pushing off of the two. She glanced over at Deryk cradling Karissa in his arms and she knew instantly what she wanted from Karissa. She wouldn’t be safe living in a place where people all around her wanted to hurt her. Kayla would have to give up the one person she loved the most.

Deryk had told Kayla a few days ago, he was moving back to Chicago with his family, during a class period. He had explained to her that his family moved a lot because of his father’s business. His father owned a line of companies all around the United States and once his father stepped down, Deryk would be inheriting everything they had, including the companies.

Kayla knew Deryk could give Karissa a better life.

Kayla turned back to stare at David and smiled. Her sudden change of emotions confused him and with a suspicious stare, he narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw, fisting his hands. She stepped away from him and turned her gaze from his, glancing at all the people around her.

“David might never tell you what really happened between Karissa and himself, but I want you to remember Karissa’s face. I want you to remember her back when she hadn’t been with David. Remember her face because when all of this is over and the truth is finally told, all of you will be looking like the fools,” Kayla paused and turned her intense stare onto David, “Especially you, David. And then, everyone will step all over you,” she added, darkly and turned her back on him.

Kayla rushed to Deryk’s side and without looking back; they ran out of the doors, pushing threw teacher’s grasps. David watched after Karissa. Yes, he did have a daughter with Karissa, and he would always feel for her, but he wasn’t going to admit it to anyone. He was David Johnson and she had gotten what she deserved.

David was at the top and no one would believe Kayla or Karissa that David had gotten Karissa pregnant and the baby she was with now was his. After everything he had done to keep that dark secret hidden away and to be where he was now, he wasn’t going to admit what had happened two years ago. No matter what happened, Karissa would be known as the slut who broke David’s heart.

David pushed Karissa’s mangled body to the back of his mind and smiled at a petite brunette to his side. She blushed, as he watched her and gracefully, he walked towards her and pushed his body against hers, running his fingers down her smooth cheek. She giggled, giddily and stared at him, dreamily. Running his fingers threw her dark hair, he couldn’t stop the sudden feelings that rushed through him, as he remembered when he’d run his fingers threw Karissa’s silky mane. He stared down at the girl’s lips and smiled, remembering the nights he’d tasted Karissa’s.

David grabbed a handful of the girl’s hair, roughly pressing his lips against hers, as she struggled against him. She squealed into his mouth and pushed at his chest, but he continued to move his lips over hers and finally, he pulled away from her, smirking at her red lips.

“Thanks,” David said, huskily and wiped the lip gloss off his lips. He turned from the girl he didn’t know and walked away, chuckling.

To David, this was the life.